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Formula 1 2019

Life in Formula 1 never stands still, and even in the depths of winter there's plenty of intrigue, gossip and innuendo, so we might as well start the 2019 season right here!

Other than the acknowledgement of Michael Schumacher's 50th birthday, which was marked by a statement from his family which didn't really say anything about his condition or prospects, the motorsport press has really woken up this week with the news of Maurizio Arrivabene's not entirely voluntary departure from Ferrari.

Reading between the lines, it seems that this parting of ways was always on the cards, with the late Sergio Marchionne, who appointed the former Marlboro PR man in the first place, as the instigator of his departure. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that there was some friction between Arrivabene and technical chief Mattia Binotto, and the Ferrari board decided that they would rather lose Arrivabene than the man responsible for moving Ferrari to the forefront of technical innovation, and find themselves competing against him once any gardening leave period had expired. Binotto is a Ferrari man through and through, having been involved with the Formula 1 team in one capacity or other since 1995.

Arrivabene, according to Mark Hughes, seemed to confuse leadership with being bombastic, and his attitude towards the press didn't exactly win friends and influence people, so expect knives to be sharpened over the next few weeks. At the end of the day somebody had to take the blame for what has been described as "the best car, run by the worst team" in 2018.

New car launches begin in mid-February, in advance of the first pre-season Test which begins on February 18th. Hopefully, this year's first Test won't be curtailed by snow, and the teams can get some meaningful running in.

One more snippet of not particularly good news is that Niki Lauda was readmitted to hospital in Vienna having spent Christmas with his family at home in Ibiza and contracted flu. Niki underwent a double lung transplant late last year, and was making a good recovery according to reports, but his weakened immune system left him vulnerable. He is expected to be released later this week.

Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.

All are bound to be skeptical as with Torro Rosso Honda has proven basically nothing more than mediocre progress. Still, it seems that Marko would have at least sóme reason to create such high expectations as he has only to loose from that.
The Barcelona tests are not likely to clarify matters as for one all will be sandbagging and developing and secondly RedBull will claim the latter big time for the new Honda engine expected.

Sadly not at Jerez again. Would have enjoyed a visit now with Alonso gone.

Until, as has happened in F1 many times over the years, the FiA become jittery about "excessive speed" and "safety" and look for and find a way to slow down the FE cars. In F1 they have used chicanes, banning of aero devices, banning of ground effects, wood planks etc. Perhaps a 100kg lead plank on the FE cars would work? The Nanny State have nothing on Nanny FiA.

F1 is leagues faster than FE as it currently stands so i think there would be quite some way to go in FE before the FIA start slowing them down.
The reason the FE circuits are so tight and windy is to give the impression that the cars are faster then they actually are.

I have started watching Formula E this season... I had seen previous events but as commented earlier could not engage with them. I thought I'd give it a go this year as they have the new designs and also now go the whole race in a single car (previous generation had to swap cars half way through). The manufacturers are lining up as are the stars to drive these cars and I can see this being the future but I am not invested in this the same way I'm into F1.

One of the reasons for me is that Formula E seems to be aimed at the Playstation generation, there are two many boost and gimmicks, the cars are fundamentally the same but with various boost available during the race. This seems to me to be detrimental to what people want to see, which is cars that pit the driver skill against one another.

Whilst Formula E does not suffer the same problem as F1 where the car can run easily behind each other, there is no differential in the teams and their strengths and weaknesses. For example we all know that in 2018 the Redbull had a dog of an engine but it strengths where in the aero. In places like Monaco then this played to the Redbull's strengths... This seems to be missing in Formula E. It is in current F1 but we do not see it properly as the aero is stoping the wheel the wheel action.

The tracks do not help in Formula E either they seem two tight for proper wheel to wheel action and more aimed at presenting the cars rather than proper racing.

I have started watching Formula E this season... I had seen previous events but as commented earlier could not engage with them. I thought I'd give it a go this year as they have the new designs and also now go the whole race in a single car (previous generation had to swap cars half way through). The manufacturers are lining up as are the stars to drive these cars and I can see this being the future but I am not invested in this the same way I'm into F1.

One of the reasons for me is that Formula E seems to be aimed at the Playstation generation, there are two many boost and gimmicks, the cars are fundamentally the same but with various boost available during the race. This seems to me to be detrimental to what people want to see, which is cars that pit the driver skill against one another.

Whilst Formula E does not suffer the same problem as F1 where the car can run easily behind each other, there is no differential in the teams and their strengths and weaknesses. For example we all know that in 2018 the Redbull had a dog of an engine but it strengths where in the aero. In places like Monaco then this played to the Redbull's strengths... This seems to be missing in Formula E. It is in current F1 but we do not see it properly as the aero is stoping the wheel the wheel action.

The tracks do not help in Formula E either they seem two tight for proper wheel to wheel action and more aimed at presenting the cars rather than proper racing.

Remember next year is a free for all, within the rules, that is why the manufacturers are getting so interested.

The fundamental difference (apart from the power units) is that Formula 1 teams must design and build their own cars, although in some cases the "build" part of that is sub-contracted. They can develop the cars throughout the year, and the only constant factor is the tyres.

Formula E, at least for now, is a "spec" Formula, and no development is permitted unless the FIA want any changes made for safety reasons. So, in theory, the cars in Formula E are equal, which explains why overtaking moves are often optimistic, and not always without contact. Otherwise, without the gimmicky "Fan Boost" and now the additional power boost which requires the driver to press a button and run over a certain part of the track off line to activate it, Formula E races usually have the cars running closely together, but without there being too many opportunities to overtake. And because the cars are bunched together and evenly matched, crashes often result in collateral damage to other cars, not helped by the design of the circuits, with artificial walls and debris fencing close to the track.

Whether the above is resulting in good, entertaining racing is highly debatable. It all seems too contrived, and in no way comparable to watching cars with differing characteristics racing on proper circuits, although I feel that there are not enough "proper" circuits left on the Grand Prix calendar - when I am Chairman of the FIA any country wishing to host a Grand Prix which has a Presidential Palace will have their hosting fee doubled, and the money used to subsidise races on circuits where the corners have had names as opposed to numbers for at least the last half-century.

I watched the first Formula E race of the season, but I probably won't bother watching any more. It might provide a job for a few Grand Prix drivers who have passed their sell-by date like Felipe Massa, or need to keep their eye in to help with their simulator work, such as Jean-Eric Vergne, but otherwise I don't see the attraction. Will it eventually replace Formula 1? Can it replace Formula 1? Who knows?

We are told that electric is the future for providing power to propel the masses, and new generations will wonder why we took so long to give up on using smelly, volatile liquids to power our cars. These generations will never feel or hear the spine-tingling shriek of a racing V10 or V12 internal combustion engine at 18-20,000rpm, or experience the smell of hot brakes and Castrol R which pervades the air in the paddock of an historic race meeting.

A new season is almost upon us, as we move through the brave new halfway house compromise of turbocharged V6 engines married to electric power, a recipe which, from the better manufacturers, provides close to 1000bhp, somewhat less than the simpler V6 turbo engines of the late 1980's, which could hit 1500bhp in qualifying trim, although those engines were fit only for scrap at the end of a run, whereas in today's more enlightened and eco-friendly world the cars use 30% less fuel to complete a Grand Prix, and in most cases the engines can withstand six or seven races before being retired, so progress is being made. The skill set of a Formula 1 driver has expanded into the realms of maximising engine and tyre life, concepts alien to their predecessors, but that's the way of the world nowadays, and a modern Grand Prix car will lap a circuit much faster than a more powerful car from forty years ago, and use significantly less natural resources to do so.

I always look forward to a new season - the anticipation of the unveilings of the new cars, the release of so much hot air from McLaren as they tell us how much faster they will be this year, and so on. The "phoney war" of pre-season testing, and then the first race at Melbourne, with nowhere to hide as the gloves come off and we finally see who's fast, and who's faking it.

I can't wait.

Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.

Speaking of which; per july 2020 new electric/hybrid vehicles are to emit sound because their silent mode is 40% more likely to hit a pedestrian than fossil fuel burners.

Saw a surprising statistic concerning reliability of the new F1 tech.;
In comparison with 2013 V8/V10s the 2018 hybrids did 10% more distance with half the number of engines.
Also fuel efficiency went up from 35 to 50%.
If only they would make the cars overtake easier.

You can be sure that the young Monegasque will be aware of his relative qualifying shortcomings, especially so compared to Vettel, and that in order to put up a challenge to the German he'll be working on his consistency. I'm also quite surprised to read that, according to the process used in the article, that Vettel was technically the best qualifier of 2018 relative to both his own and his team's performance. With Hamilton putting on the display that he did in both Melbourne and Singapore last year it would be easy to presume that it was the Brit that was getting the most from himself.

I watched the last few hours live and kept up to date via live feeds if not watching the actual race itself. If there were any doubters left after his performance in the '17 Indy 500 surely there can't be any now, his wet weather drive/s in the Rolex 24h were whole seconds ahead per lap over others in the same racing class.

A quick shout out to BMW with their class win, a victory that has been dedicated to long-time Schnitzer boss Charly Lamm who passed away only a few days ago.

As far as his "retirement" from F1 is concerned I don't think that the sport will miss him, despite his talent I know I won't. That's in no way because of Alonso himself, more a case of being excited to see young blood coming through the ranks and following their progress should make up for any hole that Alonso leaves. Motorsport is all the better for having someone like Fernando within its fold and after years of drought in F1 it's great to see him succeed elsewhere, F1 itself though is bigger than any one man.

There's not much happening in and around Formula 1 right now, so first fire-ups of 2019 power units and personnel changes constitute headline news, and one such move is the sinking ship that is McLaren have lost their genial Media Manager, the lovely Silvia Hoffer-Frangipane, to Ferrari.

I imagine that her first task will be to un-learn the phrases "sub-optimal performance", a favourite way for Ron Dennis to cover up a complete cluster**** and "lack of power/reliability from the Honda engine", the standard post-race McLaren press release filler for several years.

Talk to the hand, Fernando!

In other McLaren news, they appear to have a new sponsor! Yes, really! An actual sponsor, with logos and stuff! It's Spanish beer producer Estrella Galicia, a personal sponsor of Carlos Sainz for several years.

The appointment of Ms Hoffer-Frangipane follws the departure from Ferrari of Alberto Antonini, and is, no doubt, an attempt by the Scuderia to become more media-friendly following the departure of the growling, taciturn Mauricio Arrivabene, not noted for his bonhomie towards the F1 Press Corps. Or anyone else.

Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.

There's not much happening in and around Formula 1 right now, so first fire-ups of 2019 power units and personnel changes constitute headline news, and one such move is the sinking ship that is McLaren have lost their genial Media Manager, the lovely Silvia Hoffer-Frangipane, to Ferrari.

I imagine that her first task will be to un-learn the phrases "sub-optimal performance", a favourite way for Ron Dennis to cover up a complete cluster**** and "lack of power/reliability from the Honda engine", the standard post-race McLaren press release filler for several years.

Talk to the hand, Fernando!

In other McLaren news, they appear to have a new sponsor! Yes, really! An actual sponsor, with logos and stuff! It's Spanish beer producer Estrella Galicia, a personal sponsor of Carlos Sainz for several years.

The appointment of Ms Hoffer-Frangipane follws the departure from Ferrari of Alberto Antonini, and is, no doubt, an attempt by the Scuderia to become more media-friendly following the departure of the growling, taciturn Mauricio Arrivabene, not noted for his bonhomie towards the F1 Press Corps. Or anyone else.

McLaren have admittedly had a woeful few years but do you really, hand on heart, believe they are a sinking ship?
Just think about the wording, sinking ship. That means it IS going to go under.
I think they will come back. Will they ever repeat their greatness of the last century, no, but I do think they can get back to the front of the midfield and get the occasional podium.

Formula 1 2019

Originally Posted by jaytip

McLaren have admittedly had a woeful few years but do you really, hand on heart, believe they are a sinking ship?
Just think about the wording, sinking ship. That means it IS going to go under.
I think they will come back. Will they ever repeat their greatness of the last century, no, but I do think they can get back to the front of the midfield and get the occasional podium.

I’m not so sure; unlike, well only Ferrari really (but maybe Mercedes if they stay in the sport long term), there’s no reason why they should be any better than any other private team. Yes they’ve had their good years as have Williams, Renault and others but even Red Bull could quite easily drop down the list.

McLaren have admittedly had a woeful few years but do you really, hand on heart, believe they are a sinking ship?
Just think about the wording, sinking ship. That means it IS going to go under.
I think they will come back. Will they ever repeat their greatness of the last century, no, but I do think they can get back to the front of the midfield and get the occasional podium.

If it was possible to bottle hot air and use it to power a Formula 1 car, McLaren would beat Mercedes on a regular basis.

Last year, pre-season, we had to put up with all of the "Now we've got Renault power units we'll be fighting at the front with Red Bull". And what happened? In round numbers, McLaren were about a second per lap slower than Red Bull. Everywhere. With the same power unit.

McLaren now confuse "talking a good game" with "actual performance", and frankly, if they couldn't get any decent results with Fernando Alonso driving for them, they're not going to become any more of a threat now that their dire performances have finally made him look for pastures new.

No major sponsor for several years, risible performances with Honda power, barely improved by a move to Renault last season, largely thanks to the slowest car in terms of straight line speed, designed by the man who was, for many years, Adrian Newey's right-hand man. McLaren are grasping at straws, and if they don't start looking more like a Formula 1 team and less like a PR talking shop and start getting results and attracting sponsors, they'll disappear without trace. Like a sinking ship.

Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.

If it was possible to bottle hot air and use it to power a Formula 1 car, McLaren would beat Mercedes on a regular basis.

Last year, pre-season, we had to put up with all of the "Now we've got Renault power units we'll be fighting at the front with Red Bull". And what happened? In round numbers, McLaren were about a second per lap slower than Red Bull. Everywhere. With the same power unit.

McLaren now confuse "talking a good game" with "actual performance", and frankly, if they couldn't get any decent results with Fernando Alonso driving for them, they're not going to become any more of a threat now that their dire performances have finally made him look for pastures new.

No major sponsor for several years, risible performances with Honda power, barely improved by a move to Renault last season, largely thanks to the slowest car in terms of straight line speed, designed by the man who was, for many years, Adrian Newey's right-hand man. McLaren are grasping at straws, and if they don't start looking more like a Formula 1 team and less like a PR talking shop and start getting results and attracting sponsors, they'll disappear without trace. Like a sinking ship.

Unfortunately true.

Martin Whitmarsh is a lovely guy, but his introduction of matrix management totally bu@@ered innovation and direction in the team (and Ron let him do it, it must be said). I don’t know if they’re actually now going to go back to a proper top down line management reporting structure, as used by every other successful F1 team since the beginning of time, but I can’t see any improvement happening unless they do. It’s going to take years for them to improve even once they do that, of course.

I'm not trying to defend the indefensible, but other than scoring more points, how much better could McLaren do? Is it realistic for them (or anyone other than Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull) to get a top three CC position these days? I guess beating Renault would be a decent goal.

I did have a little chuckle though; 'sinking ship McLaren' does have a certain 'failing New York Times' style ring to it.

I'd be sad if McLaren did leave F1 (I presume the car business and perhaps some other form of motor racing would continue), but I'm sadder about the decline of Williams.

I'd be sad if McLaren did leave F1 (I presume the car business and perhaps some other form of motor racing would continue), but I'm sadder about the decline of Williams.

I agree wholeheartedly. The sport can ill afford to lose any teams, least of all two teams with such proud and impressive histories.

I think that they both suffer from a lack of management fortitude and vision, although I suspect that Zak Brown will tell us all that he has an abundance of vision, but we're not seeing it translated into results, or even the odd promising performance. Both teams have Team Principals who are very media-friendly and talk a good game, but you never feel that there's much beyond the facade.

Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.

The problem is that unlike many sports there isn’t a second division to fall back to, or graduate from for teams, unlike pilots.

So the back of the pack remains at the back, the middle battles well and the top teams can pass everyone else in a few laps on most tracks.
Therefore attracting sponsors isn’t economically viable i most cases.

I'm not trying to defend the indefensible, but other than scoring more points, how much better could McLaren do? Is it realistic for them (or anyone other than Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull) to get a top three CC position these days?

Not really any different than just about any other ´sport´ is it?

There are nearly always clear favorites.

Ok, the rechnical rules and clamp down on racing in F1 excagerates the issue. Have a look at MotoGP. There too it is pretty clear who is/are the top dog/s yet there are mány winners and hair raising overtaking/racing is guaranteed.

Peronally I became intersted in F1 again becaúse of the new, awesome technology and I still am. The rácing however.... nah. Bóóóring. I prefer spen an hour reading a in depth explanation of the near mind boggling tech than waste time watching an actual GP.

I am absolutely báffled why the obvious changes to the tech. rules are not materialising; instead they make it wórse (wider still cars)! No, we will no see changes at the top of the tree but could at least see rácing!

Btw. I wonder when Mercedes will pull out. They are in the position of Team Sky in cycling. They have proven the point and their top dog role is drawing increasing négative publicity.
Would not surprise me to see them keep propping up the team under a different banner.

Are they going to let formula E onto some proper race tracks one day? I assume someone from F1 has got things tied up for formula E so they can’t compete on a spectacle level.

I’d probably watch FE if it wasn’t a parade around narrow streets, looks so frustrating.

E-tech is a long way from being able to lap on proper tracks and even further from proper race distances.
On a side note; e-cars will be required to emit sound so pedestrians can hear them. Would seem logical that FE cars will have a sound system playing motor sounds too :-)

Back to the racing; the E farcing is already fully taken over by the main stream manufacturers and the fields have much the same brands.

The rest is just about publicity. As soon as FE offers a spectacle it will rub shoulders with, perghaps even take over F1. The manufacturers don´t care which tech propels their billboards.

Are they going to let formula E onto some proper race tracks one day? I assume someone from F1 has got things tied up for formula E so they can’t compete on a spectacle level.

I’d probably watch FE if it wasn’t a parade around narrow streets, looks so frustrating.

According to Wikipedia, the latest FE cars have a top speed of 174mph. They'd look pretty slow on an F1 track, and there would be virtually zero overtaking. I think that's why they use the tracks they do.

According to Wikipedia, the latest FE cars have a top speed of 174mph. They'd look pretty slow on an F1 track, and there would be virtually zero overtaking. I think that's why they use the tracks they do.

It is indeed chicken and egg: the cars were designed to run on street tracks across the world to publicise e powered cars. They could make different cars to run on proper circuits but that drastically limit the number of locations.

It is indeed chicken and egg: the cars were designed to run on street tracks across the world to publicise e powered cars. They could make different cars to run on proper circuits but that drastically limit the number of locations.

The battery tech is simply not up to that quite yet. Faster = more drain = even shorter range and at an alarming rate too since the power drain is related to the square of the speed.
Nevertheless, the way Liberty is going about the television rights, this year FE will be the race spectator sport by default ;-)

The FE rules have changed for this season; the cars now run the complete race of 45 minutes plus one lap rather than changing cars half way through.

Next season will allow teams to also design and build their own chassis rather than all use the same as now.

Things are changing fast; I’m sure they’ll start using proper tracks soon enough. They already use a shortened version of the Monaco circuit although I can’t really see why they don’t use the full circuit.

Somebody really should have given Nicki Shields a script to work from. As a publicity event, this lacked a certain gravitas. However, Rich Energy (has anybody ever even seen their product for sale? Me neither. Not exactly Red Bull, are they?) is now a major sponsor in Formula 1, and if Haas maintain their current trajectory, should be snapping at the heels of the leading teams this year.

Somebody really should have given Nicki Shields a script to work from. As a publicity event, this lacked a certain gravitas. However, Rich Energy (has anybody ever even seen their product for sale? Me neither. Not exactly Red Bull, are they?) is now a major sponsor in Formula 1, and if Haas maintain their current trajectory, should be snapping at the heels of the leading teams this year.

Further car reveals are scheduled for next week, with pre-season testing starting on the 18th.

Sources indicate that the car revealed yesterday might actually be a 2018 car with 2019 front and rear wings, rather than the actual 2019 car.

The black livery makes it very difficult to see the bodywork, especially the crucial and therefore highly sensitive area around the barge boards, cockpit sides and the front of the sidepods. Who knows? The 2019 car will be used in the tests, that's for sure.

Meanwhile, has anybody found any Rich Energy drinks for sale, other than on the internet?

Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.

A quick look on the Companies House website shows three officers listed for Rich Energy Ltd. William Storey himself - described as a Computer Consultant - along with a Keep Fit Instructor and a Public House Manager who resigned a year and a half ago.

If you don't have subscription, in short, Haas is based on Ferrari parts, Ferrari did one test session last season of a double stacked exhaust for aero reasons and now the Haas has appeared with one, so it's thoguht the Ferrari next week will.

A quick look on the Companies House website shows three officers listed for Rich Energy Ltd. William Storey himself - described as a Computer Consultant - along with a Keep Fit Instructor and a Public House Manager who resigned a year and a half ago.

The plot thins. The car "revealed" at the RAC Club last week may or may not have been the 2019 car, but Haas have released pictures of the full-on 2019 version, and Motorsport.com have produced a handy comparison slidey-thing to show the differences:

So there we are. Ten years after the FIA decided that the way to spice up the racing and improve the chances of one car being able to follow, and ultimately overtake a rival, by widening the front wings and narrowing the rear, this season's cars will have wider front and rear wings in order to spice up the racing and allow... etc.

Basically, the main difference this year is that the front wings have been changed to reduce "outwash" which occurs when the air flow is directed around the outside of the front wheels by intricate shaping of the front wing elements and endplates, resulting in increased turbulence behind the car, to less complex "inwash" designs which direct air inboard of the front wheels which apparently reduces the turbulent wake, and will allow another car to follow without a drastic reduction in downforce.

So there you have it. Give it half a season and the finest aerodynamicists on the planet will have worked out a way to circumvent the rules to their team's benefit, and dump a load of turbulent hot air for the following car to deal with. The 2018 cars had front wings and endplates which worked together to produce counter-rotating vortices which blended when they met to reduce the turbulence behind the front wheels, and attach to the undersides of the cut away sidepods to exit above, and increase the efficiency of, the rear diffuser. If the FIA think that they can outsmart aero-geekery at that kind of level, they may have underestimated the engineers.

Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.